For the past few years, the SSC has been expanding rapidly, inviting neighboring states into the coalition. In the cases where nations haven't agreed to join, they've either been run over with pure military force and occupied, or otherwise pushed to the point where they have no other choice.

The corporate powerhouses of the central states more or less control the whole coalition are out for more profit and more power; They're hoping that if they bully enough states into the coalition they'll have enough manpower and resources to duke it out against Rouel and win.

Lately, however, they've been growing overconfident and lax, leaving opportunities for unhappy citizens of the member states to form terrorist groups and guerilla armies. Currently, Tabithjistan, a nation with borders spanning from Rouel to the outer borders of the SSC, is putting up a surprising amount of resistance against the SSC's attempts at occupation.

Typically, the kingdom of Rouel doesn't get involved in the business of other nations, but lately the SSC's advances have been getting awfully close to the borders of the kingdom. The royal family has publicly condemned the way the SSC does things, and the knightly orders are mobilizing for peacekeeping operations in the nations in between the SSC and the kingdom. In Tabithjistan, the chevaliers of the Red Lion order are hammering against the waves of mercenaries and paid bandits working for the SSC, and in Cergie, the order Leviathan prepares to move a fleet of carriers across the ocean to the south-east continent to stop the SSC's offensive.

The empire has very little contact with the outside world. Nobody really enters the empire from outside, and nobody leaves without proper authorization. They keep themselves up to speed on the state of the world through intelligence operatives and paid informants on the other continents.

Lately, however, trading between the empire and smaller coastal nations seems to have increased, though records show that the amount of wares traded are about the same.